MinD - Designing for People with Dementia

7 July 2018: The MinD team is preparing designs for evaluation

In July 2018, colleagues from the MinD team have met for the third time in Luxembourg. University of Luxembourg and Alzheimer Europe hosted visiting researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain, to finalize design ideas and prepare for their evaluation.

During the two weeks, healthcare partners and designers worked on the design development of the ‘Good Life Kit’ design The Good Life Kit aims to support people with dementia in managing everyday life confidently. The design concept had been selected in October 2017 from a shortlist with the help of people with dementia, caregivers and healthcare experts in Germany, Spain and the UK.

A key task now was to finalize the design concepts of the three different parts of the Good Life Kit so that prototypes can be prepared over the summer for the evaluation in the autumn. The three parts are: This is Me, Living the Life and You & Me.This is Me offers reflecting on one’s past present and future and to think about experiences, feelings and values, and abilities and wishes. Living the Life offers information on one’s health and how to keep well following mindfulness principles. You & Me offers reflecting on and putting in place one’s own support team to face the challenges of dementia.

A second key task was to work on preparing a framework for the evaluation of the designs in the next phase of the project in the autumn. The intention is to present the designs to people with dementia, carers and health professionals in the four countries: Germany, Netherlands, UK and Spain. The evaluation will assess the potential benefits and impacts of the designs.